Born: 18 October 1892, United States
Died: 23 May 1972
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Lucretia Louise del Valle
This entry is reprinted in full with permission from the National Women’s History Museum (United States of America). All rights reserved.
At just nineteen years of age, Lucretia del Valle took center stage embodying the role of Señora Yorba in John Stevens McGroarty’s famous The Mission Play in 1912. Her casting was a deliberate one. Portraying the story of California’s early missions, del Valle brought to her role a rich Californio heritage as a descendant of the early Spanish-Mexican settlers of the state. Dressed up in her family’s heirlooms, del Valle emphasized her “Spanish” past as a direct tie to the persona of Señora Yorba and the role of Spanish-speaking Catholic missionaries in bringing “civilization” to the state. Through her performance, she seized this opportunity as a chance to authenticate Spanish-Mexicans’ claim to belonging and citizenship in the state by alluding to their role in the early settlement of the state. Her portrayal of Señora Yorba was ultimately a political statement and an example of the broad range of Latina political activism.
Daughter of Reginaldo del Valle, the first representative of Spanish-Mexican heritage to take office when elected to the state assembly in 1880, del Valle’s notions of civic engagement and citizenship were heavily influenced by her upbringing. In 1911, California became the sixth state where women could vote equally with men. That same year, del Valle turned eighteen and saw women 21 years of age or older exercise their right to vote.
After gaining fame due to her role as Señora Yorba, del Valle moved to New York to enroll in Columbia University’s Department of Political Philosophy in 1917. Since New York had not yet passed women’s right to vote, she became disenfranchised. She put her studies into practice, converting her skills in theater performance into political action through public speaking, rallying other women on the east coast to fight for the right to vote. Here, she met her husband, professor Henry Grady, and spent the latter part of her life serving alongside his ambassadorial career addressing women’s rights internationally, heavily involved in California’s regional clubs, and serving as a Democratic National Convention delegate.